Best Kids' Parties: Cowboy Party

Like most little boys, my son Owen loves cowboys. He loves hats and guns, horses and badges so a cowboy party only seemed fitting.

The invitations were my favorite part of Owen's party. During the planning process Owen said he wanted all of his friends to have a horse to race during the festivities, so I made hobby horses for each of his guests. Owen dressed up in all of his cowboy gear and we hand delivered the hobby horses (along with a paper invitation with the party details) to his friends. Guests were instructed to practice riding their horse and bring it to the party for the big race.

Since the party was in our backyard, I kept the decor simple by tying red bandanas together and hung it up in the trees. Each guest received a cowboy hat, bandana and sheriff badge upon arriving.

For party activities, the children raced their horses and took turns at the pinata. Once the pinata was broken open, the children put their candy in a cotton bag I embellished with a boot silhouette made from a red bandana.

The party favors were bags of trail mix + bottles of sarsaparilla (root beer). My sister in law made the cute boot cake.